Predisposition and cause of the catastrophic landslides of August 2005 in Brienz (Switzerland)

Very intensive rainfall in August 2005 (>300 mm/3 days) triggered moderately deep (2–10 m) landslides of about 50'000 m3volume each in two mountain torrent catchments above the village of Brienz (Berner Oberland, Switzerland). These landslides – originating in Trachtbach and Glyssibach catchments – transformed into extremely rapid (>5 m/s) debris flows, which caused significant damage in inhabited areas; two persons lost their lives and about twenty-five families became homeless. The Brienz case was the most damaging one among many landslide disasters occurring during those rainy days in the Swiss Alps. In this paper we study in detail the predisposition and causes of the 2005 landslides in the Brienz area, based on field mapping, analysis of high resolution images and digital terrain models, derived from LIDAR and infrared measurements taken before and after the event. The features of these landslides are compared with past and dormant landslides in the mid-slope portion of the mountain chain north of Brienz, which has been the source of many catastrophic mass wasting events during the last centuries.